ONE Fighting Championship held a press conference today in the Philippines to promote their next show in Manila, and among the news that were announced are 2 championship bouts that are set for the card. Contrary to what was said earlier, Honorio Banario (8-1) won’t be headlining against Bae Young Kwon, but instead, he will get a tougher and more experienced fighter in Koji Oishi (23-9-10).
Officials have announced today that they have signed the former lightweight King of Pancrase, and Oishi will be looking to use his massive experience advantage to try and take Banario’s featherweight title. The 35-year-old, who has now dropped to 145 lbs, also has 2 UFC fights on his resume and he has faced and beaten several top fighters such as Chris Lytle, Nate Diaz, and Satoru Kitaoka.
According to officials, current ONE FC title holder, Soo Chul Kim is out indefinitely after having shoulder surgery, but ONE FC 9 will still host another title bout on the card. Because of the injury, the promotion went with another bout instead, pitting consensus top 5 fighter Bibiano Fernandes (13-3) against Koetsu Okazaki (8-2) for the interim bantamweight title.
The former two division DREAM champ in Fernandes also had his last bout in Manila, where he defeated fellow high level grappler, Gustavo Falciroli at ONE FC 5.
The card is also set to host the finals of the ONE FC BWGP between Masakatsu Ueda and Kevin Belingon.
Check out the current rumored fight card so far:
ONE FC 9: Rise to Power
May 31, 2013 — SM MOA Arena, Philippines– Honorio Banario vs. Koji Oishi [ONE FC Featherweight Championship]
– Bibiano Fernandes vs. Koetsu Okazaki [Interim ONE FC Bantamweight Championhip]
– Masakatsu Ueda vs. Kevin Belingon [Bantamweight GP Finals]
– Eduard Folayang vs. Kamal Shalorus
– Nobutatsu Suzuki vs. Phil Baroni
– Andrew Leone vs. Geje Eustaquio
– Rey Docyogen
– Lowen Tynanes
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